Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

forms of bank deposits and fixed interest annuities. 75 It is also possible that the
community possessed further liquid and real estate assets, unknown to Karliner, as
he indicates in his report that quite clearly he could only list what was known to
him and to other members of the reconstituted community. 76
The religious communities and the cultural and social organisations operated
according to their own constitutions and budgets until they were dissolved. In
addition, the vast majority organised their own premises. An examination of
archival material relating to the plethora of effective religious, cultural, social and
welfare organisations extant in the community corroborates Karliner’s assessment,
as does the consensus of those interviewed. 77 It should also be noted that whilst
the vast majority of religious, social, cultural, and welfare organisations operated
independently, the community as a whole was funded by fourteen charitable
foundations. 78
The only archival material relating to operational budgets and general finances
which have survived is that concerning the financial operations of the Synagogen-
Gemeinde and the Provinzial-Verband für jüdische Wohlfahrtspflege in Sachsen-
Anhalt, Beratungsstelle Magdeburg. This latter area of communal support only
continued to increase as community members became more impoverished. In
exploring this subject it is possible to gain a greater understanding of how the
75 Report to the Landesverband der jüdischen Gemeinden in der Russischen
Okkupationszone, Berlin from the president of the Synagogen-Gemeinde zu
Magdeburg, Otto (Ismar) Horst Karliner, 22 January 1947, Bestand 5B1, Signatur Nr.
65, CJA, op. cit., p. 241.
76 Ibid.
77 H. and S. Freeman, op. cit., 13 May 1998.
78 Landesverband Jüdischer Gemeinden Sachsen-Anhalt, ed., op. cit., pp. 187–188
and Spanier, op. cit., pp. 39–41. Spanier provides a detailed list of all the charitable
foundations which supported the community in 1923.
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